Sherwin Wu

Head of Engineering for OpenAI’s API and Developer Platform. Previously an engineering manager at Quora (owning the newsfeed codebase). Has a front-row view into how AI is changing software engineering at the most AI-native engineering organisation in the world.

Episodes in this wiki

• Sherwin Wu on AI-Native Engineering, Wizard Managers, and the Sorcerer's Apprentice — Lenny’s Podcast, 2026

Key ideas

• Codex penetration at OpenAI. 95% of engineers use Codex daily; 100% of PRs reviewed by Codex; engineers who use Codex more open 70% more PRs and the gap keeps widening.
• Wizard managers. Engineers are shifting from writing code to managing fleets of 10–20 parallel agent threads — closer to the SICP “sorcerer’s apprentice” than to a traditional programmer.
• Don’t listen to customers in fast-moving AI. The models disrupt themselves so rapidly that customer feedback loops are too slow; products built for today’s models are obsolete before they ship.
• B2B SaaS golden age. The one-person billion-dollar startup will spawn demand for hundreds of bespoke supporting tools — a second-order windfall for B2B SaaS.